City officials embark on an inaugural bike ride using a new bike-share service in San Jose. San Francisco Bay Area commuters fed up with traffic clogged streets have a new option to get around the region: pedal power. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

With increasing fuel costs and waistlines, we should decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and burn more body fat for fuel.

I try to ride my bicycle to work during the cooler months, and I applaud Redlands’ move in improving the bicycling infrastructure with the green bike paths and other bicycle-friendly features. Even with these improvements, I’ve almost been hit by cars barely slowing down in the intersections.

The ideal situation would be to have bicycle paths totally separate from the roads, like the Santa Ana River Trail. Imagine pathways connecting all of our cities and major shopping areas. More people would feel safe to bicycle to these places, reducing congestion and pollution.

The Auto Club of Southern California’s Westways magazine recently published an article about an elevated wooden bike path in downtown Los Angeles, where many would bicycle above the streets to avoid the horses. It was very popular until the automobile came along and people switched to the new mode of transportation. Maybe it’s time to bring back such an idea!

— Ernie Medina, Jr., Loma Linda

Bike paths waste money; just follow the traffic laws

Cars and bicycles can mix when drivers and cyclists obey the law and respect the space both need. Building more bike paths is a waste of time and money. There are miles of bicycle paths that are empty all the way down to the beach. Yet most cyclists use the busy streets occupied by automobiles.

I walk daily on a trail in the Rosedale housing development (not the Garcia Trail). The street that runs along this trail is a two-lane street with a turning lane in the middle — no bike lane — but that doesn’t stop the cyclists. They ride alongside each other, sometimes three or four bicycles across, blocking traffic and forcing cars into the middle turning lane. Or they’ll ride on the walking trail. I asked the local police department about laws concerning cyclists and learned that bicyclists can ride anywhere they want — even if it’s not safe.

— Lynda Groleau, Azusa

Both are helpful, but other measures are needed

As a long-distance cyclist and daily bicycle commuter, I’ve logged more than 115,000 miles in the last 22 years. Conditions are improving because there are more cyclists, and most drivers are more aware of that. There are always going to be cyclists and drivers who think they own the road. And even with education, laws and stripes on the road, you cannot change the idiots. For most of us, bike lanes, bike paths and sharrow lanes are all immensely helpful.

I think increased enforcement of speed limits on surface streets, and laws regarding cell phone use and texting, would also add to safer cycling (and driving).

— Doug Wheeler, Manhattan Beach

Network of connecting bike paths is right idea

I believe the safe way to navigate a busy city on a bicycle is to behave as a motor vehicle behaves. This means riding with traffic, obeying laws and signs, and moving in a predictable fashion so others on the road can see you and know your intentions. It also means taking the entire lane when necessary to prevent motorists from trying to crowd by you when conditions don’t allow them to pass you at a safe distance.

In a perfect world, there would be a network of bicycle paths connecting the reaches of our city. The cost to retrofit this kind of infrastructure is surely enormous, so we will probably end up with a combination of paths, streets with bicycle lanes and streets designated as bike routes, plus signage to advise bicyclists about safe cycling and motorists about sharing the road.

Why do those of us living in the fattest nation on the planet, knowing about the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels, still drive at speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour, in oversized, mostly empty cars?

— Matthew DeVoll, Pasadena

Region doesn’t have room for dedicated bikeways

I live in Rolling Hills Estates and we have bike lanes striped beside the traffic lanes. These seem to work well, although often the bike riders don’t stay in their own lanes and ride in the traffic lanes, causing backups. I don’t believe there is sufficient real estate along most Southern California roadways to create a dedicated bike way.

— Carol Dean-Porter, Rolling Hills Estates

Another idea: Cyclists should ride against traffic

If there was ever a case of mixing apples and oranges, mixing non-motorized and motorized vehicles is just that, often with tragic, life-changing results for both parties.

The solution is to require that all non-motorized vehicles travel against the traffic. This way the motorist and the bicyclist meet each other face-to-face, so either can take evasive action should the need arise to avoid a collision. Also, this traffic pattern would reduce the propensity of the bicyclist to “skirt” traffic laws. The face-to-face rule should apply to pedestrians, too. If you have to walk on the road, do it against traffic.

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